ABUNDANT LIFE IN THE FIERY FURNACE?

Walking this life of faith can be particularly difficult when life circumstances or situations push every button and cause our emotions to scream where the enemy tries to make us think God is not there for us. We need God’s wisdom in every situation and we must choose to turn to Him and learn to apply His Word to our circumstances through loving God, believing Him, and declaring His Truth in prayer. This comes through a loving relationship with our heavenly Father. 

You must refuse to be deterred by your senses and stop allowing your emotions to “pitch a fit” and move forward to receive all the blessings God has for you—right in the midst of the fiery furnace of life. 

Want to live the abundant life? 

Proverbs 4:7 says wisdom is the principal thing. But in all your getting—get understanding. Take the time to gain understanding for in understanding lies the ability to live the abundant life that Jesus came to give us. 

Get real and let’s face it together—life can be tough. It’s not always easy walking by faith when the stakes are high, when your entire world can be shaken with what’s going on around you, or when the doctor says “the cancer has returned and you have less than six months to live—if that.” You may have ended up in the emergency room to learn that in order to live you must have open heart surgery. Everyone wants to live, right? 

That kind of news doesn’t sound much like “abundant life,” does it? Many have been betrayed by family and dear friends as well, and that is a hot fiery furnace too. 

I don’t know how hot the fiery furnace is that you are currently walking through, but know this, God is with you. The Fourth Man came to help Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the urgency of their personal need. God Himself subdued the flames, robbed the fire of its sting against these three boys, ripped off the bonds around them, lifted them up while the old king watched. This earthly king saw the Fourth Man (God) walking arm-in-arm with the three Hebrew children right in the midst of the flames in that fiery furnace. 

The Bible says, “Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, “Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?” They replied, “Certainly, Your Majesty.” (Daniel 3:24)

Because the three Hebrew boys would not bow, God did not let them burn. This earthly king saw for himself how God defends His own—because of His great love. These three Hebrews loved God, believed God, and trusted Him. Take time to read the story in Daniel 3—it is a reminder to us today of God’s saving power.

Choose to surrender to the Holy Spirit’s training to ignore your senses and walk by faith, relying on the Truth of God’s Word to carry you through to victory. Begin to pray the Word of God over your circumstances. Instead of speaking about the problems, pray the Truth of God’s Word. 

The greatest thing about God is His amazing love for lost and suffering humanity. You cannot have faith unless you have love first. It takes love to believe in someone else. It takes love to believe in God.

The Word of God says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.” (Isaiah 43:2)

We live in a fallen world where it rains on the just and the unjust. Life is not always fair. Many times, I believe we walk through things so others will see God’s Hand at work in our lives—by the way we choose to respond, fully knowing God is with us and for us. The king saw the 4th man in the fire—walking with the three Hebrew boys he ordered into the fiery furnace.

The Fourth Man (God) was not responsible for Nebuchadnezzar’s awful act of throwing Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into the flames but He (God) became responsible for bringing them out. God liberated them from the bonds—robbed the fire of its violence—and brought them out alive and well. 

This earthly king came to understand the great love of God through what he saw in the lives of the three Hebrew boys.

The Fourth Man is Husband to the Widow, Father to the Orphan, and the Bright and Morning Star to those in darkness. He is the Lily of the Valley to those walking through the lonely valley. He is the Rose of Sharon, the Pearl of Great Price, the Cup that runneth over, the Rod and Staff that bring comfort and the Government of our life is upon His shoulders.

That is refreshing, isn’t it? That is living in abundance—knowing God is with you and for you. He is Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of the LIVING GOD! He is my Savior, my Lord, my companion, my LORD and KING. 

King Nebuchadnezzar saw the Fourth Man and the fact that the three boys were spared. The king examined their clothing and bodies. The wisdom and understanding that this king gained through observing believers walking through the fire persuaded him to decree: “There is no other God that can deliver after this sort.”

Let us decree the same over America: “There is no other God that can deliver after this sort.” I trust in God. He walks with me through fire. I believe He is for me, He is my fortress, and He is more than enough for me. He holds my every moment, and calms the raging seas—the storms that try to overtake and overwhelm. I choose to trust in GOD. He is my healer and everything to me. 

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 INSIGHT FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT

Daniel 3:28-30

“Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying, “Blessed by the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent His Angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him, and they have frustrated the king’s word, and yielded their bodies, that they should not serve nor worship any god except their own God.

Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Aednego shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made an ash heap; because there is no other God who can deliver like this. 

Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the province of Babylon.”

NO MATTER WHAT FIERY FURNACE YOU ARE WALKING THROUGH, KNOW THAT GOD IS WITH YOU AND FOR YOU. KEEP YOUR TRUST IN HIM. He frustrates all evil plots, and all ungodly counsel. 

HIS LOVE AND MINE,

Deborah Starczewski